the Cardio-respiratory Fitness in Medical Students by Queen’s College Step Test: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Cardio-respiratory fitness indicates the ability of circulatory system to supply oxygen toworking muscles during continuous physical activity. Maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) is a single bestmeasure of cardio-respiratory fitness and is considered gold standard to quantify aerobic capacity. Methods:Eighty students of age group 18-25 years were taken by simple random sampling. VO2max was estimatedindirectly by following the protocol of Queen’s College Step Test (QCST) method. Results: Mean value ofVO2max for male (51.61±6.26 ml/Kg/min) and female (36.02±3.71 ml/Kg/min) was compared, which wasfound significantly higher in males than in females (p<0.001). There was negative correlation of gender(r = -0.838), body mass index (BMI) (r = -0.339), obesity category (r = -0.275), obese vs non-obese (r =-0.264) and basal pulse rate (r = -0.456) with VO2max and positive correlation of height (r = 0.592) and hoursof study(r = 0.309) with VO2max. Conclusion: This study showed that increased BMI is associated withdecreased level of VO2max in young adults. One can improve VO2max by maintaining BMI within normallimits.